The twenty works comprising Ms. Anderson’s program began with works by
Handel, Bizet and Schubert before moving on to works by composers
straddling the 19th and 20th centuries, including Massenet, Dvorak,
Rachmaninoff and Quilter. This progression was emphasized by a movement
from a range of languages, with German translations for Handel’s
English-language pieces, to English settings for the Dvorak and
Rachmaninoff works.
Following these classical works, Ms. Anderson concluded her program with
a set of traditional Negro Spirituals and songs, including Go Down
Moses and Trampin,’ bringing her audience home to a wealth of American
music.
Sunday’s concert by a strong array of performers, some home-grown at
Lawrence University’s renowned Conservatory of Music, others from The
Heritage Chorale of Milwaukee, was both a reprise of the original
program and something new altogether.
The most obvious new aspect was the use of multiple voices, female and
male, with sopranos and mezzo-sopranos, tenors, baritones and basses,
and three accompanists, while the original program was simply Ms.
Anderson singing to the accompaniment of pianist Franz Rupp. This very
different approach meant that, except for a few key moments, it was not
so much a Marian Anderson concert as a concert representing a wealth of
talent, taking at least some of the music to places other than where it
may have gone in the original.
The moments perhaps most akin to the 1941 concert were powerful vocal
expressions by two sopranos, Cecilia Davis in Pleurez mes yeux from
Massenet’s Le Cid, and Paris Brown singing Let Us Break Bread Together
in an arrangement by William Lawrence. Ms. Davis, of The Heritage
Chorale, was accompanied by Dr. Abe Caceras, also of The Chorale, while
Ms. Brown, a 2008 graduate of Lawrence’s Conservatory, was accompanied
by 2011 Lawrence grad Leonard Hayes.
Caceras and Hayes provided most of the accompaniment, with Kathy
Handford of the Lawrence faculty playing for the concert’s first two
works. As the concert unfolded it was apparent that both Caceras and
Hayes had an excellent ear for the needs of the varied soloists for whom
they played; never overpowering, always engaged.
Nothing short of a laundry list of all twenty works on Sunday’s program
would do justice to what the audience enjoyed, but the field of male
soloists included the depth, power and precision of bass Derrell Acon
(LU 2010), the clarity and fine execution of baritone Garth Neustadter
(LU 2010), the smooth clarity of tenor Steven Paul Spears, the powerful
approach of tenor Leonard Martin (Chorale), the soft textures of
baritone Michael Pope (LU 2012) and the rousing, heartfelt call of
baritone G. Dwight Hamilton (Chorale).
Other women’s voices included the classic soprano voice of Teresa Seidl,
the expressive mezzo-soprano Karen Leigh-Post (LU 1979), the delightful
clarity and warmth of mezzo-soprano Michaela Usher (Chorale), and a
good rendition in good voice of Quilter’s Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind
by soprano Erica Hamilton (LU 2007).
A highlight of the encore portion of the program was the heavily
improvised and very funny Scandalize My Name, brought to full life by
Ms. Brown and Ms. Hamilton. An all hands on deck reprise of the rousing
Honor, Honor, first sung by Mr. Hamilton, concluded the program, with
piano four-hands by Caceras and Hayes.
While there were more voices and hands onstage in 2014, there were fewer
ears in the audience. Accounts of the original concert told of a crowd
estimated at 1,800, greater than Lawrence’s enrollment at the time, and
also far more than today’s seating capacity of 1,184, in a configuration
similar to the University of Chicago’s Mandel Hall. Sunday’s audience
of about 200 was appreciative but not standing room.
The story of the Marian Anderson Tribute Concert does not end with the
music. It is likely that no serious mention of Ms. Anderson can exclude a
discussion of race in America in the 20th century. There is, of course,
the best-known story of Marian Anderson being snubbed, but turning that
snub by the Daughters of the American Revolution into the victory of
performing for a crowd of 75,000 fanning out from the Lincoln Memorial.
Even so, snubs, greater and lesser, continued, including in Appleton two
years after her Washington D.C. triumph, when she was denied service in
the dining room of the hotel that grudgingly allowed her to stay
overnight.
To its credit, Lawrence is also hosting a “pop-up” exhibit created by
the History Museum at the Castle entitled “A Stone of Hope: Black
Experiences in the Fox Cities,” which runs through October in Lawrence’s
Seeley G. Mudd Library. This exhibit includes details on the harsh
racial climate that characterized Appleton and environs, especially
during the first half of the 20th century. That exhibit and Marian
Anderson’s experiences throughout her career, underscore, if nothing
else, the high cost of bigotry, not only to the individuals who
suffered, but to the society that squandered their gifts.
